Humble Pie
by greysfanhp
Summary: On a school trip to the Fire Nation's colonies, Azula tastes some curious local cuisine. Being the princess she is, this doesn't go down too well.


A.N. Wow... well, I haven't written anything in a long while. This is just a little one-shot that wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it. First ever A:TLA fic by the way :D

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"What is... _this_?" The princess asked picking up the chocolate covered marshmallow with two fingers, holding it as far away as possible from her body. Her small face was scrunched up in disgust as she stared at the Earth Kingdom's most typical dessert, wondering why on earth they ate something as ridiculous as this.

"The Earth Kingdom has many treasures, this being one of them." The servant in green clothing answered. "Both the nobility and the commoners enjoy this humble dessert, it's one of the many cultural bridges between the two classes in this kingdom." He said before bowing down respectfully and leaving the room.

"Can someone please remind me why we're here? This place is even more depressing than Yu Dao." Mai asked sulkily, ignoring the tray in front of her and instead spinning a small dagger nonchalantly in her hand.

"Oh! It's not that bad Mai, right 'Zula? I'm learning tons about the colonies! I mean I never thought that people from the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation could live so peacefully together!" Ty Lee said happily, grabbing one of the small marshmallows and giving it a large bite. "Oh gods! These are good, guys! You should really try them."

"Next time there's a school trip to the colonies remind me to fall ill of a serious and contagious disease, Azula." Mai said quietly, the ends of her mouth tugging for a smile while the princess smirked.

"Seriously, guys! These things are good!" Ty Lee exclaimed as she looked up expectantly at Azula, waiting for her opinion. The older girl stared impassively into her friends grey eyes and the big wide smile she held. Knowing Ty Lee wasn't going to give up she rolled her eyes in surrender and took a small bite.

The princess looked down thoughtfully at the sweet as she chewed it, the dessert wasn't bad, she admitted grudgingly, but there was something about the marshmallow which she couldn't pin down and it was making it hard to swallow.

Azula saw on her right how Mai hadn't even touched the dessert, but instead stared down at the piece of chocolate with what could only be described as aristocratic disgust. Ty Lee on the other hand was happily munching away on her second piece already, taking large gulps of milk between content smiles.

The princess frowned and looked back down at the marshmallow. The happy face of a clown shaped by three pieces of sugared gummies stared defiantly up at her. Growing frustrated at the amount of turmoil a single piece of candy was producing in her, she grabbed the marshmallow and took a large bite out of it.

Instinctively the princess spat it out but the taste of the chocolate remained in her mouth. Mai stared at her with a raised eyebrow, her usually blank face held hints of amusement as she regarded the princess and the offending chocolate.

"Glass of milk, princess?" Mai asked innocently holding up the jug. Azula glared at her and was about to answer back when it suddenly hit her - Humility. _So this is what it tastes like_, she thought astounded as she regarded the dessert with the mixture of respect, fear and disgust usually reserved for dead bodies.

The feelings that stirred at the pit of her stomach created by the lingering taste of chocolate were so foreign to her it almost felt like a violation to her pride and everything she was taught to believe in that the very thought of finishing the dessert, no matter how delicious, was offensive.

"I really loved these." The young acrobat said cheerfully. "Do you think we can get some in the Fire Nation?"

"No." Azula immediately answered, her harsh tone made Ty Lee's smile falter momentarily.

"Thank Agni." Mai drawled. "I never want to have to look at this peasant food again. It's ugly enough to look at, I don't even want to imagine what it tastes like." She said as she briefly glanced over Azula's discarded plate before motioning for one of the servants to pass her her bag. "I smuggled in some Fire Whiskey chocolates, you guys want some?"

"Ooh!" Ty Lee squealed excitedly. "How did you mange to get your hands on _those_?"

Mai rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders in a bored fashion. "The ineptitude of the servants in my house is astounding."

Azula quickly grabbed the round box and shoved a little ball in her mouth determined to purge her taste buds with the luxurious chocolate, hoping unconsciously that the sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach would disappear with the burning sensation the alcohol brought.

She swallowed quickly and snapped her fingers at one of the servants and with a wave of her small hand she ordered them to remove the remains of the Earth Kingdom's dessert from her sight because just starring at the remains of the clowns face was enough to make her want to throw up and clean herself with scalding water to rid herself of the shameful taste she had tainted herself with the moment she had taken a bite of the marshmallow.

"I don't understand how the nobles here can eat this crap," The ten year old princess spat venomously. "When they know that even the poorest peasant in their shitty country will have this at their table. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised, they are after all just dirt-benders - how can we expect them to know about taste or class when they spend their days playing around in the mud." Azula threw her napkin on the table and got up with every bit of regal grace only true royalty could posses. She ignored her friends shocked faces, both stunned to her the princess swear, and with her chin held up high she left the room with a trail of servants following behind her.

Azula banged open the door to her make-shift training quarters and yelled at her servants to leave. She immediately started practicing the kata her father had shown her the night before she left on this pathetic trip, and with each roar of blue fire she burned away that equally pathetic feeling the marshmallow had created. She was determined that this would be the first and only time she ever had to taste that shameful taste of humility, ignorant of the knowledge that just a bit of that shameful feeling would've saved her from her pride.

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Cyber biscuit to all those who pick out the Harry Potter reference.  
Hope you enjoyed :)  
R&R!


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